Michael J. Beach of the Centers for Disease Control's Healthy Water program recently revealed why people often get stinging red eyes while swimming in pools. It's the chlorine in the water combining with pollutants such as pee and sweat:

"Chlorine binds with all the things it's trying to kill from your bodies, and it forms these chemical irritants. That's what's stinging your eyes. It's the chlorine binding to the urine and the sweat."

I view this info as part of the CDC's continuing campaign to really gross people out about swimming pools, since it follows up on the report they released back in 2013 (posted on WU here) about the high level of fecal contamination in pools.

Imagine that you're stuck in a remote location and you need to radio for help. But your radio has no power! Never fear. As long as you have some of these paper triangles created by researchers at the Bristol BioEnergy Centre — and you have to go to the bathroom — you'll have battery power. Just pee on the paper triangles and they produce enough power to send a radio signal.

And what if you don't have to go? In that case, urine from just about any animal will do.

The Holy Cow Foundation in India has succeeded in turning cow urine into a liquid cleanser that will soon be cleaning office floors throughout India. It's calling this new product Gaunyle. It says that the cow-urine product is safer than synthetic cleaners, it's "full of natural goodness," and its use will provide income for people who raise cows. So overall, its use is a "win-win" for everyone. [economic times]

Aravindan Thirunavukarasu wrote letters on a wall by peeing on the wall. Then he developed a font based on his pee letters. And he invites everyone to download his pee font from his website, The Art of Peeing. [via CityLab]

The Pee Pocket is yet another device that allows women to pee standing up. (I'm pretty sure I've posted about several other such devices.) It was designed by a heart surgeon. But what caught my eye were the possible plans to come out with a camouflage version of it marketed to hunters. Says the inventor in an interview with Local News 8 of Idaho Falls: "Hunters have all this garb and warm gear on, and they can't get it off. When they go to the bathroom, it's not just unzip. Sometimes it's cold, and it doesn't reach, so they put this inside the clothes to give them the extra length they need to pee without taking off all the garb."

I guess it's important that the hunters stay fully camouflaged while relieving themselves.